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Syracuse’s 14-point halftime lead quickly evaporated as Pittsburgh used a pair of runs to claw back and tie the game with under two minutes left. Au’Diese Toney’s game-winning tip-in off of a missed 3-pointer lifted the Panthers to a 63-60 win over Syracuse on Wednesday.

The Orange blew an 18-point lead and were out-rebounded 49-33 in its first loss against Pittsburgh in eight games. Alan Griffin’s 3-pointer from the left wing gave the Orange (6-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) a temporary 3-point lead, but Pittsburgh (6-2, 2-1) scored the last six points to win the game.

Here are three takeaways from the Orange’s narrow, late-game loss:

Another fast start turns cold

Even with the extended delay between the UB and Pitt games, Syracuse continued its season-long trend of quickly accumulating points and, in return, an early lead.

Griffin opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the wing, taking control of the possession off the tip and pulling up from the left side. On the next possession, Joe Girard III curled around a screen on the left block, caught a pass in the paint and quickly swung to the other side of the court. There stood Griffin, open and converting another shot from the beyond the arc.

By the time Quincy Guerrier hit a 3-pointer from the corner, continuing his development beyond the arc, the Orange had scored 14 points and opened up an eight-point lead that quickly extended to double-digits. It’s the fifth time this season that Syracuse has scored more than 13 points in the opening five minutes, a number the Orange reached only five times all of last year.

But Syracuse scored just 46 points the rest of the game, including 28 points in the second half. A quick burst from the 3 in the opening frame turned into a 4-for-16 stretch in the second half. That allowed for Pitt’s comeback, dominating SU on the boards at both ends, and even for its win.

Robert Braswell — yes, Robert Braswell — temporarily halts the comeback

When Pittsburgh quickly trimmed Syracuse’s lead in the second half, the Orange’s response didn’t come from any of their top eight scorers. Guerrier was on the bench with four fouls. Buddy Boeheim and Girard were in the middle of a combined 6-for-23 shooting.

Instead, it was Robert Braswell who positioned himself on the left wing early in the second half, who caught Griffin’s crosscourt pass and made his second three of the game. On the Orange’s next two possessions, he hit two more, single-handedly igniting SU’s offense and bringing its lead back to double-digits.

Braswell’s 12 points were a career-high, and they were significantly more than any offensive output he’d had to this point in his Syracuse career. In his freshman and sophomore seasons, Braswell’s career-high was six.

He also played a career-high 20 minutes, taking advantage of Bourama Sidibe and Frank Anselem’s absences and Guerrier’s foul trouble. But as Pitt launched its comeback and Syracuse initially tried to defend it, Braswell converted when Orange needed offensive life the most.

Kadary Richmond played just 19 minutes against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, his third-fewest of the season. Courtesy of Dennis Nett | Syracuse.com

Kadary Richmond’s growing pains

After progressively building a larger role in Syracuse’s rotation through the first seven games, Kadary Richmond played just 19 minutes — his third-fewest this season — and shot 2-of-7 from the field. The Panthers took away his driving lanes from the top of the key, those that helped set up drive-and-kicks to Buddy and Griffin, and forced the ball to continually cycle around the wing.

His aggressiveness still created openings, but midway through the first half he committed an offensive foul after driving as the shot clock wound down. Two of Richmond’s 3-point attempts both missed the rim, with one bouncing harmlessly off the backboard from the corner and the other missing the rim altogether. And it was Girard, who head coach Jim Boeheim turned to over Richmond in the second half in previous games, running point in the game’s final minutes.

Published on January 6, 2021 at 6:56 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew